Meet Your Neighbours photography

By Sean Graesser, Costa Rica: For the fifth year in a row I’ve returned to the dry forests of Costa Rica’s Nicoya peninsula, a place where many of North American’s Neotropical migrants choose to spend their winters. Mixed in with the wide variety of tropical birds species that inhabit the peninsula, there’s a lot of biodiversity to be seen.

One of the main study subjects we focus on is hummingbirds, at our main base of operation, we have eleven species of hummingbirds that we study. Long term banding studies on the site fidelity of the hummingbird species is one of our main focuses. We look at the ten resident species and one migrant species; we have been fortunate enough to recapture two Ruby-throated Hummingbirds that were previously banded in other years. Meaning this avian species that weights less than a penny traveled all the way to North America and back to Costa Rica traveling thousands of miles, while still being able to pick out the singular location amongst the ocean of green vegetation along the way.

We enjoy nice variety of colorful and unique native species in the area, many of them representing species not seen in North America. Some of the most striking species are the Motmot family, below is the Turquoise-browed Motmot (Eumomota superciliosa). Another boisterous and charismatic species on the peninsula is the Barred Antshrike (Thamnophilus doliatus), these small tenacious zebra striped birds give an almost raptor like appearance while zipping in and out of the forest.

I’ll be on the Nicoya Peninsula for a few weeks doing mostly avian research, but will be taking a plethora of MYN shots of any and all things that move. I’m going to post a few more entries through out my time here, so check back if you’re interested in seeing more of Costa Rica’s spectacular wildlife.

By Andrew Snyder, Mississippi, USA: Of the states in the southeastern United States, Mississippi isn’t generally the first to come to mind as being a hotbed of biodiversity, and in comparison to the others, it isn’t. However, the Magnolia State does harbor a substantial variety of species, especially ones small enough to fit on a sheet of acrylic or in a light box.

I first arrived in Oxford, Mississippi in 2011, when I started graduate school at the University of Mississippi in the northern section of the state. When not conducting research in Guyana (where most of my Meet Your Neighbours images have been captured), I have made an effort to get out and explore the new territories and habitats around here, and have subsequently been capturing images for MYN since joining in 2013.

Mississippi boasts many different habitats, from forests, to swamps, to coastal estuaries. However, all of the images that accompany this post were made within an hour’s drive outside of Oxford in north-central Mississippi. In fact, I have three favorite locations (so far) for capturing MYN images in this state.

Within a fifteen minute drive outside of Oxford is a wildlife refuge that supports hardwood forest, swamps, creeks, and a sizeable lake. This location is chock full of cottonmouths and other snakes, tree frogs, and a variety of fish. While taking part in a herpetology course that was offered at the University, I spent a lot of time here and also made some subsequent images during later trips.

Tishomingo State Park in northeast Mississippi is a special place. This park contains arguably the most topographical complexity within the whole state and is home to a variety of salamanders that aren’t found anywhere else in the state. Fellow MYN photographer J.P. Lawrence and spent a few days one weekend this spring on a bit of a blitz here, knocking of some of the states Endangered species, and then some.

A composite of a variety of the reptiles and amphibians found at various locations in Mississippi this past spring.

My third favorite location, and one that should relate to many of our photographers, is my own backyard. It should also be noted that I have only a few bushes out front and zero trees, but despite a dearth of quality habitat, I (or sometimes the dog) still routinely find new species to photograph. From mantids to beetles to moles, the point is, there are always cool creatures to be found as long as you start to look!

An Eastern mole (Scalopus aquaticus), photographed courtesy of my dog. Don’t worry, it was released unharmed. My finger on the otherhand, was not.A caterpillar hunter (Calosoma sayi) found on my front porch.

As a parting note to this short post, and as an eventual parting “gift” of our legacy at Ole Miss, J.P. Lawrence and I donated a variety of our MYN images to be used on a fancy new Biology Department tent. Hopefully these images, seen by the thousands of students and alums that flock to Oxford for every football tailgate, inspire the future generations of Ole Miss students to study biology here.